From the 1917 Code of Canon Law:
566. Of special note for Passion-tide: before the First Vespers of Passion Sunday, i.e., before noon on Saturday, all the crosses in the church and the statues on the altar shall be veiled. (S.R.C. 1275 ad 2). The statues of the saints are uncovered at the Gloria in Excelsis on Holy Saturday.
567. This veiling, or covering, shall be of violet color, and not transparent; it shall be embroidered with no figures, not even the cross. (Martinucci, II, 21.). The pictures, or images, of the fourteen Stations of the Way of the Cross may be left uncovered during Passion-tide. (S.R.C. 3638 ad 2.).
568. 1. During Passion-tide it is not permitted to uncover the statues should the feast of the Titular, or of the Dedication of the Church, or of St. Joseph occur. (S.R.C. 926 ad 2 and 3; 3396).
2. If out of devotion to St. Joseph the statue of the saint is exposed during the month of March outside the altar, may it not be left uncovered during Passion-tide? The Sacred Congregation of Rites, 3448 ad 11, answered: "Tolerari posse." "It may be left uncovered."
The Roman Missal (2002 / 2011) says: "Usus cooperiendi cruces et imagines per ecclesiam ab hac dominica servari potest, de iudicio Conferentiæ Episcoporum. Cruces velatæ remanent usque ad expletam celebrationem Passionis Domini, feria VI Hebdomadæ sanctæ, imagines vero usque ad initium Vigiliæ paschalis [The practice of covering crosses and images throughout the church from this Sunday may be observed, if the Conference of Bishops so decides.* Crosses remain covered until the end of the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, but images remain covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil]".
ReplyDelete*The edition for use in the United States says: "In the Dioceses of the United States, the practice of covering crosses and images throughout the church from this Sunday may be observed".